Weekly News Roundup

Several bioplastic development announced last week at the Olympics of Plastic and Rubber industry tradeshow “K” held in Dusseldorf, Germany. A separate post will come out for that.

For now, here are this week’s news roundup:

Mirel bioplastic in food application

Telles, the joint venture company of Metabolix and Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) has launched Mirel™ F3002, a thermoforming bioplastic grade for use in food contact applications. This extends Mirel’s product range in the food service and food packaging market sector.

Waste-to-ethanol green signal

Enerkem has completed the U.S. federal environmental assessment requirements for its Mississippi waste-to-ethanol plant, which allows the Company to move forward with the project. Construction work for the plant is expected to begin in 2011.

Engineering for pyrolysis plant

Honeywell’s Envergent Technologies has been selected by High North BioResources to engineer the world’s largest fast pyrolysis plant in Alberta, Canada, which will produce renewable heat and electricity using wood residuals. The plant will process 400 bone-dry tonnes/day of saw mill residuals to produce over 20m gal/year of pyrolysis oil.

Codexis acquires Maxygen IP

Codexis acquired the directed evolution intellectual property portfolio of Maxygen, which it has been licensing since 2002. Codexis will now be able to pursue application of its directed evolution biocatalysis technology platform beyond its current markets to all fields of use, including chemicals.

Bioenergy JV in Mexico

Grupo KUO and Repsol YPF has formed a joint venture named KUOSOL, S.A. DE C.V. (“KUOSOL“) based in Mexico which will focus on developing bioenergy using jatropha. The new firm’s activities will involve from agronomical operation to the industrial installation.

And from ICIS News (requires subscription):

US producer Eastman plans to expand its Tritan copolymer production capacity by the end of next year to meet growing demand.

Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have discovered how a rare molecule can store solar energy indefinitely and then release it on demand as a chemicals-based heat battery.

Increasing demand from solar cell manufacturers was a leading factor in Ferro’s decision to raise its 2010 earnings estimate.